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Chisago Lakes/Pine City 7, Eveleth/Gilbert 2

Junior defenseman Ariel Novak led the way with her first career hat trick as the Wildcats opened the girls hockey season with a bang. They crushed Eveleth/Gilbert 7-2 Thursday, November 14 at the Pine City Civic Center.

Eight different players got in on the scoring for the Wildcats. In addition to Novak’s hat trick, Rhiannon Sauter had two goals and an assist, and Ashley Elumba and Morgan Baumgard each chipped in with a goal. Abby Olson had two assists, and Laura Greene, Samantha Lorr and Krista Liebsch had one goal each.

Elumba’s first goal as a Wildcat came on a nice feed from behind the net by Lorr. The goal marked Elumba’s return to the ice after a two-year layoff because of a torn ACL. Elumba, a junior, last played as an eighth-grader at Park of Cottage Grove.

“This was a good first game,” said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen. “The players skated hard and we really spread the scoring around. In the past few years, we’ve relied on one or two players to do most of the scoring. Since those players have graduated, we’re going to need several players to step up this year to fill the scoring gap.”

Game Summary 1 2 3 T

Eveleth/Gilbert 0 0 2 2

Chisago Lakes 3 1 3 7

First Period

CL 1 Novak (unassisted) 2:21; CL 2 Baumgard (Sauter) 5:23; CL 3 Sauter (Greene) (pp) 9:18

Second Period

CL 4 Elumba (S. Lorr, Olson) (pp) 2:48

Third Period

CL 5 Sauter (Liebsch) 1:17; EG 1 Turner (Seppi) 1:49; EG 2 Matanich (Kunnari) 3:24; CL 6 Novak (unassisted) 6:51; CL 7 Novak (Olson) 14:14

Saves

CL Pitzen 19; EG Dertinger 36

Forest Lake 6, Chisago Lakes/Pine City 4

In a tough game that featured 23 penalties, CL beat Forest Lake 6-4 at FL Thursday, November 16. The Wildcats took a 4-3 lead midway through the third period, but Forest Lake came back with three goals to earn the win.

The Wildcats opened the scoring on a first period power play. Abby Olson carried the puck into the Ranger zone and, using a defenseman as a screen, fired a low, hard shot into the right corner to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The Rangers came back with two goals of their own, including one on the power play, to take a 2-1 lead after the first period.

Rhiannon Sauter scored two unassisted power play goals in a two minute span of the second period to help the Wildcats regain the lead. At the six-minute mark, she carried the puck out of the corner into the slot and fired a snap shot the upper right hand corner of the net. Her second goal was a wrist shot over the goalie’s glove. The Rangers scored a minute later and the game was tied going into the third period.

Sauter had a hand in the Wildcats’ go-ahead goal. She passed the puck to Krista Liebsch, who carried it down the right side 2-on-1 and fired a low shot on net., The goalie made a tough kick save, but Morgan Baumgard crashed the net and put it away to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead. “That’s the way we practice that play,” said Wildcat head coach Jason Mahlen, “and the girls executed it well.”

Little more than a minute later, the Rangers scored a power play goal to tie the game. Four minutes later, having regained the momentum, the Rangers scored two goals in a two-minute span to make the final score Forest Lake 6, Chisago Lakes 4.

“Forest Lake is a deep team,” said Mahlen. “With all of the penalties, our most experienced players saw a lot of extra ice time on the power play and the penalty kill. We may have been a little tired at the end of the game. We’ve got an interesting mix of experience and youth on our team; we’ve already had seventh graders, freshman and sophomores see varsity action this year.”

Game Summary 1 2 3 T

Chisago Lakes 1 2 1 4

Forest Lake 2 1 3 6

First Period

CL 1 Olson (unassisted) (pp) 8:25; FL 1 Crudo (Blum) 12:49; FL 2 Crudo (Patchin) (pp) 16:00

Second Period

CL 2 Sauter (unassisted) (pp) 6:01; CL 3 Sauter (unassisted) (pp) 7:46; FL 3 Haide (Blum) 10:28

Third Period

CL 4 Baumgard (Liebsch, Sauter) 6:38; FL 4 Haglund (Shelafoe, Hanmer) (pp) 8:18; FL 5 Blum (Patchin, Crudo) 12:38; FL 6 Haglund (Nelson) 14:26

Saves

CL Pitzen 24; FL Carpenter 15

The Wildcats were scheduled to open the conference season Tuesday, November 21 at Robbinsdale Cooper in New Hope. They will resume play after the Thanksgiving break.

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